A Denver district judge today threw out a lawsuit challenging legislation that lowers cost-of-living increases for members of the Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association.

Lawmakers in 2010 passed a bill that sought to address the long-term financial solvency of PERA, which covers more than 400,000 public employees ranging from teachers to state troopers. The legislation raised retirement ages and length of service requirements for some workers and changed contribution rates for governments and their employees

But it also reduced annual cost-of-living increases that had been as much as 3.5 percent and capped them at 2 percent. A group of retirees sued, alleging the state had abrogated a contract by lowering the inflationary increases.

But in a summary judgment that threw the lawsuit out before it went to trial, District Judge Robert Hyatt flatly disagreed.

“While plaintiffs unarguably have a contractual right to their PERA pension itself,” Hyatt wrote, “they do not have a contractual right to the specific COLA formula in place at their respective retirement, for life without change.”

Attorney General John Suthers, a Republican whose office defended the law lowering the annual adjustments, praised the ruling.

“This ruling will help place the PERA retirement fund on a sounder fiscal footing,” Suthers said in a statement. “More than 441,000 public employees are counting on the pension’s financial integrity. This ruling represents a step toward long-term solvency for the PERA retirement fund.”

Colorado took another step today toward full compliance with the new federal health care law, naming a nine-member board to oversee a health insurance exchange that is a key component of the law.

The board was created by Senate Bill 200, the controversial legislation that set up the health care exchange and a bill opposed by conservatives as part of “Obamacare” socialized medicine.

The Affordable Care Act approved by Congress in 2010 mandates that all states set up health insurance exchanges by 2014. The exchanges function as virtual marketplaces, allowing individuals and small businesses to band together to negotiate for coverage and prices the way big companies do.

However, they will also help individuals who can’t afford coverage find subsidized care.

“This will be a Colorado-based health exchange that is created by Coloradans, for Coloradans,” Gov. John Hickenlooper said in a statement. “The exchange represents a broad collaborative effort between businesses, consumers, providers, the insurer community and the state legislature. We are excited to be a leader among states on this issue, and one of 10 states that passed legislation.”

Fifteen other Democrat Senators signed the letter, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico.

“These laws are a solution in search of a problem,” Bennet said. “Voting is integral to the strength of our democracy, and we should be working to increase voting participation, not keeping valid voters from having their voices heard.”

In question are a number of state-passed ID laws that require people show a government-issued ID to vote. Bennet and the others are worried that the requirement will keep poor and elderly people from voting, they cite a study that showed up to 11 percent of eligible voters in the country do not have a government-issued ID.

The issue gained traction in Colorado after the state’s newly elected Secretary of State Scott Gessler testified before a House committee here in March saying between 106 and 11,000 non-citizens may be registered to vote in Colorado. Gessler favors a photo ID requirement to vote.

At the time, his testimony — and numbers — were questioned by several county clerks in Colorado.

Colorado lawmakers batted around a measure surrounding voter ID that eventually died after an emotional debate. State Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver, called the idea at the time a “Voter Disenfranchise Act of 2011.”

WASHINGTON — It seems like yesterday when we were hearing about GOP Senate candidate Ken Buck being “too extreme for Colorado” and (now Democrat Senator) Michael Bennet being a puppet for the Obama administration and “out of touch.”

Get ready for another round. It is starting startlingly early for the presidential election next year.

Crossroads GPS, a conservative organization, has dumped $5 million in anti-Obama ads in 10 battleground states, including Colorado, for the next two weeks. The group has pledged to raise and spend $120 million on the 2012 election, according to The Washington Post.

The group’s first ad is titled “Shovel Ready,” and it’s airing in Colorado and in nine other states.

Air-quality regs coming: Environmental Protection Agency head Lisa Jackson said Tuesday her agency is working on air quality regulations for areas impacted by natural gas production and hydraulic fracturing. Aspen Daily News

Axelrod out of bin Laden loop: As final preparations for the mission to kill Osama bin Laden were underway, David Axelrod was with President Barack Obama in the White House but out of the top-secret loop. He was actually writing jokes with the president, he recalled Tuesday at the Aspen Ideas Festival. Aspen Daily News

Fighting for Ft. Lyon: Colorado’s two U.S. senators, along with two regional congressmen, are urging the Department of Veterans Affairs to consider a wide range of options for keeping open the Fort Lyon Correctional Facility near Las Animas. The Chieftain

Writing on The Huffington Post, Sen. Michael Bennet says, “Fifteen years ago, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The law remains on the books today, and it is a stark reminder of why so many Americans are so disgusted with the politics of Washington.”

New stem-cell bill sponsor: Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Charlie Dent is taking the place of defeated Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) as the lead co-sponsor of embryonic stem cell legislation, offering key Republican support for a controversial bill reviled by many social conservatives. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), would give legislative backing to President Obama’s 2009 executive order allowing federal funding for medical research using discarded embryos from fertility clinics. The Hill

Wyo. wolf deal: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director nominee Daniel Ashe will visit Wyoming within the next month to reach a deal on delisting Wyoming wolves. In a phone call to U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Tuesday, Salazar committed to the visit to “aggressively pursue a solution” to the years-long dispute over wolves. In response, Barrasso announced that he will quit blocking a vote to confirm Ashe as Fish and Wildlife director. Casper Star-Tribune

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.